Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited on Friday announced the formal launch of its first IT Academy in Karnataka.
Located in Gulbarga, the IT Academy will serve to be a 'pivotal point' for imparting IT training to teachers across the State, the company said in a statement here. It is a key deliverable of the MoU signed between Microsoft and the Government of Karnataka, for implementation of Microsoft's Partners-in-Learning programme, it said.
Under the MoU, Microsoft was committed to set-up three IT Academy Centres in the State at Gulbarga, Bangalore and Dharwad for training over 20,000 teachers and 400,000 students (from class III to Class XII) over a five year period.
The IT Academy is equipped with a IT lab complete with latest hardware and software, a comprehensive IT curriculum and well-trained staff for effective delivery of IT training for school teachers, the statement said.
While a combination of Tablet PCs and 20 desktop PCs are used for the routine training process, a laptop has been provided to the IT Academy Manager who is required to visit various schools across the State to ensure consistency in delivery process, according to Microsoft.
The IT training courseware has been translated in Kannada for ensuring improved understanding of content by teachers. Microsoft will also run a 12-day training programme free of cost for participating teachers to equip them to use technology in teaching students in a classroom environment.
The MoU entails creation of a localised IT curriculum for students, rolling-out of teacher and student scholarship programme and setting up of a teachers' portal.
